Free City of Light (The Traveler's Gate Trilogy) by Will Wight

clear, Grandmaster. When you talk about the Elysian Incarnation, you mean Alin, son of Torin?”
    Grandmaster Naraka shot her a scornful look behind her gleaming red spectacles. “How many other Travelers of Elysia do you know, girl? Of course it's Alin.”
    Leah nodded like she had cleared up a minor point of procedure, but inside her stomach churned. Alin was an Incarnation. Would she even recognize him? Some of the Incarnations she'd seen had seemed human enough, but others looked like the monsters they were. You would never be able to tell that they had once been men and women.
    Even then, while she tried to imagine what the Incarnation of Elysia might look like, another part of her mind was hard at work. Alin was born as a Traveler of one of the most powerful Territories. If he had Incarnated, he must be all but unstoppable. How could she use that to her advantage? Could he, perhaps, be lured into getting rid of the other eight Incarnations?
    Worse, she had known Alin. Was there anything left of the young man he’d been, or was he nothing more than a monster?
    “He hunted through the city for the remaining Grandmasters,” Naraka went on. “He said we tricked him into releasing killer monsters on the world, and that we deserved to die for our crimes.”
    “You did,” Leah said. “And you do.”
    Grandmaster Naraka twisted her lips into a smirk. “How sad you must be, that the Incarnations are exacting just retribution upon your nation for your family's crimes. Nature will achieve balance once again, though the process might be painful. The longer the balance goes without redress, the greater the pain.”
    Leah nodded as if that made sense. “I see. Then for what crimes is the Elysian Incarnation punishing you?”
    The Grandmaster stretched the fingers on her left hand. It looked like a nervous gesture, and she wasn't meeting Leah's eyes anymore, but Leah still tapped gently into her Lirial Source. She didn't trust any enemy Naraka Traveler moving their hands for any reason.
    “He hunted through the city for us,” Naraka said, ignoring Leah's question. “And in the meantime, he changed the city. His very presence there turned the walls to gold. It made the trees taller, healthier. It turned shops into towers and homes into palaces. The people loved him for it even more. Then he started changing the people…”
    Grandmaster Naraka's voice trailed off, and she stared into space, seemingly lost in memory. “You should see it for yourself, girl. I wanted the Elysian Travelers in charge. They are the pinnacle of human virtue, unhindered by the petty greed and factionalism of other Territories. But the Elysian Incarnation...he is morality without sympathy or conscience, a king with no opponents and no self-restraint. You have to see it for yourself. I can't describe it.”
    Leah agreed: she would have to see Alin’s effect on the city. She had already begun weaving a plan, but the Grandmaster didn't need to know that.
    So she pushed the recording crystal across the desk, toward Grandmaster Naraka.
    “Try,” she ordered.
    ***
    Simon nearly choked, and his heart went from a casual rest to a full sprint. His steel was still empty, which meant that he was about to die, but he had some essence left. He heaved Nye essence into his lungs, drawing as deeply as he could on the wisps of cool power that remained, straining to hold Azura in front of him with one hand. With his other hand he felt around in the pocket of his cloak, trying to grab the mask before Valin noticed him, crossed the distance, and killed him.
    One dark gray sleeve rested on Simon's arm. It used no force now, but Simon knew from personal experience that the Eldest was more than capable of stopping him physically when he had no steel to draw upon.
    “You act when you should watch,” the Eldest whispered.
    Acting on faith, Simon drove Azura into the soft earth at an angle, its mirror-bright steel reflecting the bright flashes of green overhead. Caela